Gianfranco Zola looked distraught as he walked around the Vicarage Road pitch this evening, thanking the Watford fans for their support this season. It was an emotional rollercoaster which affected everyone inside the stadium, including us reporters.

The unbelievable events at Hull City meant automatic promotion seemed unlikely at certain points during the afternoon but once Cardiff City equalised in the dying moments at the KC Stadium, then the Hornets knew just one goal would secure promotion to the Premier League.

Watford needed victory and with the score 1-1, it wasn’t an unrealistic target despite being down to ten men following Troy Deeney’s red card.

Watford were flat for much of the second half but they made a real go of it in the latter stages.

The Golden Boys were on top and Leeds goalkeeper Paddy Kenny made a double save to deny Almen Abdi and Matej Vydra late on and also tipped a Fernando Forestieri effort on to the side netting. The dream was still alive.

But with just two centre halves and Daniel Pudil and Ikechi Anya bombing forward, the Hornets were always going to be at risk of a counter-attack and it duly came when Ross McCormack chipped debutant Jack Bonham in the 90th minute.

Zola was asked if there was any point during the afternoon when he thought Watford were going to secure promotion?

He replied: “At the end maybe because when there was ten minutes to go – despite having one player less – I knew we had the quality to create towards the end.

“I knew it would be risky because the players were tired and it was a big gamble but I had to try.

“Yes for a moment I thought we could score the goal [which would secure promotion].”

The Italian continued: “The players were very tired [emotionally]. I was shouting at them and encouraging them but they had given everything so I can’t complain.

“It has been tough but we will come back.”

Watford started the contest superbly and showed why they went into the match with automatic promotion a possibility.

But the momentum was lost somewhat when play was stopped for around ten minutes midway through the first half due to a worrying injury to Jonathan Bond.

Leeds forward Dominic Poleon appeared to nudge Ikechi Anya into the on-rushing Bond and it ended with the goalkeeper lying in the recovery position for the best part of ten minutes before leaving the ground on a stretcher and with an oxygen mask. It seems Bond has broken his nose and it was still unclear this evening whether he had also suffered concussion.

Many managers would have used the incident as an excuse following defeat and an opportunity to criticise the opposition player. Not Zola.

He said: “To be honest I’m not sure if it was Ikechi Anya or the Leeds player who hit him. Maybe he was pushed and he went into him. It was unfortunate.”

The Hornets, who lost Manuel Almunia in the warm-up due to a hamstring injury, were unable to match the same performance level following the delay in play and went behind when Poleon made the most of a mix-up by Bonham and his defence to tap into the empty net.

Watford equalised soon after through a fantastic strike by Almen Abdi and that should have provided the Hornets with the platform to regain control following the restart. It didn’t.

The Golden Boys’ promotion hopes were dealt a crushing blow when Troy Deeney was given a red card for a second yellow card when he tried to block a Leeds cross.

“I don’t remember the first booking,” Zola said. When a journalist reminded him it was when Deeney casually tried to chip Kenny in the first half after a free-kick had been awarded, Zola replied: “It is okay.”

The head coach did accept the afternoon may have ended differently had the Golden Boys retained XI players.

He said: “I do wonder if it would have been a different situation [with XI men] because we were very tired and we were risking it. Maybe it would have been different.”

He continued: “I think it was a little bit hard on Troy considering he had been fouled the whole match.

“I didn’t see the foul to be honest so I can’t be more precise about it. Maybe the referee could have let it go.

“And maybe the referee could have given us a penalty [in the first half] but it wasn’t to happen.”

Very few inside Vicarage Road would have questioned the referee’s decision had he awarded a penalty in the first half when Jonathan Hogg was tripped bursting into the penalty area.

The refereeing decisions, missed opportunities and bad fortune in terms of injuries are all irrelevant tonight though. Hull are promoted and Watford are not.

When the television cameras cut to Zola walking around the pitch afterwards he was devastated. Yet when he walked into the post-match press conference, he remained a gentleman until the end.

“I will give Steve Bruce a phone call,” Zola said. “It has been a really exciting challenge and Hull have played well so well done to them and we will see what happens for us.”

Read Anthony Matthews' report here.